A new type of drug offers hope to people with pancreatic cancer and is being used to treat patients within the Piedmont Hospital system.
Unlike traditional chemotherapy, daraxonrasib is a pill taken three times a day that targets cancer at the molecular level. It’s known as a KRAS inhibitor. KRAS is a gene that provides instructions for making a protein called K-Ras, which is found in mutations leading to different types of cancers, according to officials at Piedmont.
“Ten or 15 years ago, experts in oncology called KRAS undruggable, meaning they didn’t have any medication that could stop cancers with a KRAS mutation,” said Dr. Wally Curran, Chief of Piedmont Oncology. “KRAS is a common driver mutation for many patients.”
A “70-year-old Vinings resident and retired Atlanta attorney David Stockton is one of the trial participants who took this experimental pill hailed as a “miracle drug”. Stockton took part in the clinical trial that led to the FDA early access approval and is now under the care of one of our Piedmont Atlanta Hospital oncologists leading clinical trials for patients with stage 4 metastatic pancreatic cancer,” according to a news release from Piedmont Hospital.
“More than a year after receiving daraxonrasib, Stockton is walking up to five miles a day, hiking the Appalachian Trail, and spending time with family. Although the drug eventually stopped working, after 13-months progression-free, he considers it a major breakthrough that offers hope for future medical treatments,” the news release continued.
According to the American Cancer Society, pancreatic cancer has the lowest five-year survival rate of cancers at only 13%. Many cases are diagnosed in later stages and symptoms can mimic a myriad of other diseases according to Curran.
Weight loss, abdominal discomfort, change in bowel movements or abdominal swelling are among the symptoms, he said.
There are some genetic factors involved in developing pancreatic cancer and heavy consumption of alcohol and obesity may also factor in with some cases, according to Pancreatic Cancer North America.
Piedmont trials thus far have included patients whose cancer has already spread and who have already had some type of medical therapy, he said. Of those their survival has gone from six to seven months to 13-14 months, doubling their survival rate.
The next step is to expand trials to those who haven’t had surgery with hopes that the use of the drug could shrink tumors before surgery.
Not only does this class of drugs show promise for people with pancreatic cancer, it may also help with certain lung, colon and ovarian cancer driven by KRAS mutations.
Daraxonrasib hasn’t received full authorization yet from the Food and Drug Administration.
“It’s exciting, but there’s still a long way to go,” said Curran.
Piedmont started early detection center for pancreatic cancer last year. Read more about it here.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years. She’s won multiple Georgia Press Association awards, is the recipient of the 2018 Greater Augusta Arts Council’s media award and was named best local writer by readers of Augusta Magazine in 2024 and 2025. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here
